This bat, used early in Lou Gehrig's career, sold for over $131,000 at auction. (Lelands)

The fact that his life and career were cut short by ALS also makes for an extremely shallow pool of Gehrig memorabilia.

John Taube, who authenticated a Gehrig bat for "Sports Detectives" — that bat, which was even more rare since it was not a Louisville Slugger, sold for $436,970 last year — said that there's roughly one Gehrig bat for every 10 Babe Ruth bats.